- AARP

www.aarp.org

You don’t have to be over 50 or a member of the AARP to use its free Health Guide. The site provides links to basic articles about insurance (managed care, private insurance and Medicaid), Medicare, Affordable Prescription Drugs (with news on AARP political activity in this arena), Effective and Safe Prescription Drugs, Physical Activity and Staying Healthy. There’s also a link to the organization’s Health Message Board, a monitored place to chat about health topics with other website users.

But perhaps the most unusual feature of this website is found near the bottom of its home page. Under Medicare there’s a link to the “Medicare Interactive Counselor,” a clickable question-and-answer, large type tool that provides specific guidance regarding Medicare coverage. Your responses to the questions tailor the details you receive about your eligibility and coverage, on both the federal and state levels, under this program.

Also found on the home page of this website – still new and evolving at this writing – is a list of about 15 Frequently Requested Topics, such as obesity and prostate cancer. Following any of these links takes you to question-and-answer style articles, each containing links to even more in-depth information.

The site uses the same article format for Healthy Living (with links on “Fitness,” “Travel Health” and a few others), Quality Matters (for example “How to Prevent Medical Errors,” “Make the Most of Doctor Visits”). Some of the links feature forms in the PDF format that can be printed, filled out and taken with you on doctor visits.

The Effective and Safe Prescription Drugs link opens a page that lists medications for nine of the most common medical conditions. Clicking on a drug name provides a short, simple article by a physician about the drug, with an additional link regarding safety and effectiveness.

The Physical Activity and Staying Healthy links take you to colorfully illustrated, magazine-style articles, such as “Warming Up to Winter Sports” and “Strength Training for Boomers.” You can also sign-up for a free health and wellness newsletter from the home page.

This site is published by AARP, a nonprofit membership organization for people 50 years of age and older.

Last modified: 20 Sep 2006.

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